IP Hall of Fame

The London-based publication Intellecutal Asset Management (IAM) magazine has created the “IP Hall of Fame” to honor individuals – both past and present – who have played a major role in creating and improving our intellectual property systems. The Hall of Fame was started in 2006 with inductees such as Thomas Jefferson, James Madison, and Thomas Edison. More modern inductees include Marshall Phelps and Don Banner.

The 2007 induction process has recently begun. Nominations may be submitted by anyone through the IP Hall of Fame website: www.IPHallOfFame.com. The 2007 awards will be presented at a big Ocean Tomo gala in October.

Along with Phelps, Todd Dickinson, Senator Birch Bayh and others, I am a new member of the IP Hall of Fame Academy — the group that selects the inductees. You can blame us if your nominees are not selected this year.

Being able to “work” (read “game”) the patent system does not make one a genius, but being WILLING to work the system makes one an abuser. Smallguy’s right in that Lemelson’s abuses were instrumental in bringing about the 1995 patent “reform” legislation. They also engendered revolt against the patent system among industry in general and now among the general public. The problems from his abuses will continue to plague this country for years. If you’ve seen the vitriolic writings of Michael Crichton, you know what I’m talking about. If the patent system is broken, it’s because it allows people like Lemelson, who invent nothing, but file on everything, to get patents and harass true innovators, who actually go out and make and develop products. I’m ashamed that the Smithsonian took money from him, much less honored him, but then the way that money rules Washington is an entirely different problem.

There is nothing I can do right now.
And I would rather wait to see what comes out of this “patent deform” act

It’s a puzzle I need to solve: how to practice your invention and be immune from most other patents in the field while kicking everybody’s ass with your own patent.

Those big patent pirates think that this is impossible in high-tech (well, they probably don’t need to think at all – they just steal before thinking)
They just might be terribly wrong. As I told them a few years ago: buy the patent application now for cheap, or I will kick your company out of a certain very lucrative niche 15 years from now.
You know what the answer was ? “We don’t care – we will be happily retired by then”
It is ordinary shareholders who suffer the most when company’s CEO knowingly steals somebody else’s IP, and 10-15 years later company is held accountable for this.

Until courts start punishing corporate executives (even after they leave the company) for this kind of abuse nothing’s gonna change in the patent world…

I knew Jerry Lemelson when I worked at REFAC to manage the enforcement of some of his patents. Jerry’s true genius was his intuitve understanding of the patent system and how to “work” it, and his foresight that eventually patents would be worth fortunes. More important, Jerry was fortunate to enforce his patents at a time when patent litigators were not very skilled. Today, Jerry’s patents would fall rapidly because the patent litigators are much better and the Judges are more knowledgeable. Nevertheless, Jerry made a significant contribution to technology and Patent Law. One last comment to small guy, a patent troll is a name companies give to a person who objects to having his technology stolen.

I knew Jerry Lemelson very well and he stood out as a great among greats. In fact, Gordon Gould (LASER), Gertrude Elion (leukemia treatment and other inventions), Wilson Greatbatch (Pacemaker) all held Jerry Lemelson in high regard.

Patent pirating companies raped one inventor after another for many decades. First Bob Kearns and Gordon Gould blazed a trail of justice, at least some justice in the wild west of intellectual property, followed by Jerry Lemelson and now many others. I have long felt that the best gage of our worth to society is often who dislikes us. That is a badge of honor.

Today America’s independent inventors are extracting retribution from stagnate, arrogant, unethical and immoral companies who lie, cheat, and steal. These companies were either parasites from their inception or became parasites as the aged. They can no longer produce inventions of significance and have an entitlement mentality just like common criminals.

I am confident that once these companies go the way of the dinosaurs and are not longer running massive disinformation campaigns that history will will judge Jerry Lemelson as a great inventor who had the gumption to hold disreputable translationals accountable for their outragious conduct.

I am also certain that the clown at Symbol who suffered from the Little Person Syndrome because he was a second or third rater who could not produce a significant invention if his life depended on it as a loser.

Jerome Lemelson was one of America’s most prolific inventors, with nearly 600 patents to his name and others still pending. His versatile mind produced inventions in communications and medical technologies, robotics and machine vision, and a variety of industrial processes.

He also invented toys–inflatable toys, jumping toys, toys with propellers, toys that run on tracks, target games, dolls and more. In fact, Lemelson’s first patent, issued in 1953, was for a variation on the propeller beanie, operated by blowing through a tube (his patent drawings are above and an artist’s vision of the beanie is at the top of this page).